CenturyLink Naming Rights, Speedy Noil and other Seahawks Notes 5/16/17

CenturyLink extends naming rights to the Seahawks’ stadium

The Seahawks and First and Goal Inc. have agreed to extend the naming rights of Seattle’s home stadium through 2033. This is pending approval of the Washington State Public Stadium Authority, the public corporation owner of the stadium. The Authority is made up of three guys who sit deep in the back of the Old 5th Avenue Tavern and meet for happy hour each day. (For the record, that last sentence is not completely true.)

CenturyLink Field became the official name of the stadium in 2011. Prior to that the stadium was called Qwest Field. And before that the home of the Seahawks was simply Seahawks stadium. In 2011, CenturyLink acquired Qwest Communications, hence the need for a name change.

CenturyLink is also the exclusive communications services sponsor of CenturyLink Field and the Seattle Seahawks.

Speedy joins the Seahawks

Seattle signed two players on Tuesday. One of them is fullback Kyle Coleman. Coleman spent time with Seattle last year but was cut prior to the season. The other player is wide receiver/kick returner Speedy Noil who went undrafted out of Texas A&M this year.

Noil led Texas A&M in all-purpose yards as a freshman in 2014 with 1,418. However, in his sophomore and junior seasons Noil failed to reached that freshman number of yards in both years combined. Noil was highly rated out of high school and was expected to do great things in college. He did not. Still, he has a lot of physical ability. The problem for Noil may be his decision making beyond the field.

Noil decided to turn pro early even though he was taking a big chance that he would not be drafted. Of course, he was not. His decision to do so may be that at the end of his sophomore season and the end of of his junior season, Noil was suspended from the team’s bowl games. Noil was arrested for marijuana possession in December of 2016.

Seattle made room on the 90-man roster for Noil and Coleman by cutting quarterback Skyler Howard and fullback Brandon Cottom.